4. Pastoralists' Perspectives on the Costs of Widespread Fires in The

4. Pastoralists’ perspectives on the costs of widespread fires in the pastoral lands of the southern Northern Territory region of central Australia, 2000–02 Grant E Allan Andrea Tschirner Contributing author information GE Allan: Bushfires NT, Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport, PO Box 2533, Alice Springs, Northern Territory 0871, Australia A Tschirner: Centralian Land Management Association, PO Box 2534, Alice Springs, Northern Territory 0871, Australia (Current address: Charles Darwin Reserve (White Wells Station), via Wubin, Western Australia 6612) Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Centralian Land Management Association (CLMA), Bushfires NT and the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport (NRETAS). Special thanks to the pastoralists in central Australia for their support of this research through their information and hospitality. Thanks to Dr Glenn Edwards, NRETAS, for his valuable contribution as project leader of Desert Fire; Dr Dionne Walsh, past CLMA Coordinator, for her involvement and support of this research; and our anonymous reviewer of this report. Shortened forms AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer CLMA Centralian Land Management Association EMS Environmental Management System GIS Geographic Information System INRM Integrated Natural Resource Management NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NHT Natural Heritage Trust NRETAS Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport, Northern Territory NTFRS Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service 188 Desert Knowledge CRC Desert Fire: fire and regional land management in the arid landscapes of Australia Ch 4: Pastoralists’ perspectives on costs of fires in central Australia, 2000–02 pp. 187–208 Contents 4.1 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ �� 191 4.1.1 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... �� 191 4.2 Introduction and aim ...................................................................................................................... �� 192 4.3 Methods �� 192 4.4 Results �� 193 4.4.1 Economic information for the 2000–2002 wildfires in centralAustralia ............................ �� 194 4.4.2 Areas of potential research and activities needed for better fire management .................... �� 196 4.5 Discussion and conclusion ............................................................................................................. �� 197 4.6 References ...................................................................................................................................... �� 197 4.7. Appendices .................................................................................................................................... �� 198 Appendix 1: Bureau of Meteorology monthly significant weather summaries for the period August 2000–December 2002............................................................................ �� 198 Appendix 2: Area of pastoral properties burnt during 2001 and 2002......................................... �� 202 Appendix 3: Activities and costs associated with fires on pastoral properties in central Australia �� 204 Appendix 4: Case study of Coniston Station ............................................................................... �� 205 Appendix 5: Case study of Erldunda station ................................................................................ �� 207 Figures Figure 4.1: Map of fires that affected Coniston Station, 2000–2004 ................................................... �� 205 Figure 4.2: Map of fires that affected Erldunda Station during 2002 ................................................. �� 207 Tables Table 4.1: Summary of the major fire issues identified during interviews with pastoralists in central Australia �� 193 Table 4.2: Comments from pastoralists on the 2000–2002 fires, extracted from CLMA’s interviews �� 194 Table 4.3: Costs associated with nine wildfires on one property in central Australia.......................... �� 195 Table 4.4: Costs associated with six wildfires on one property in central Australia ............................ �� 195 Table 4.5: Areas of potential research and activities needed for better fire management identified by pastoralists during the INRM planning process in 2004 ................................................. �� 196 Table 4.6: List of pastoral properties in central Australia showing the proportion of each burnt, 2001–2002 ......... 202 Table 4.7: Activities and costs associated with wildfires in central Australia as identified by pastoralists �� 204 Table 4.8: Details for the fires that affected Coniston Station from 2000 to 2004 .............................. �� 206 Table 4.9: Details for the fires that affected Erldunda Station in 2002 ............................................... �� 208 Desert Fire: fire and regional land management in the arid landscapes of Australia Desert Knowledge CRC 189 Ch 4: Pastoralists’ perspectives on costs of fires in central Australia, 2000–02 pp. 187–208 190 Desert Knowledge CRC Desert Fire: fire and regional land management in the arid landscapes of Australia Ch 4: Pastoralists’ perspectives on costs of fires in central Australia, 2000–02 pp. 187–208 4. Pastoralists’ perspectives on the costs of widespread fires in the pastoral lands of the southern Northern Territory region of central Australia, 2000–02 Grant E Allan and Andrea Tschirner 4.1 Summary This report documents pastoralists’ perspectives on the costs of widespread fires in the pastoral lands of the southern Northern Territory region during 2000–2002. The research involved personal interviews and discussions with pastoralists representing 51 stations in central Australia. The majority of the direct costs of fire were associated with fire suppression activities and damage to infrastructure, but also included risk minimisation activities such as fire-break maintenance. A few pastoralists were also able to estimate some of their indirect costs, such as loss of pasture. The interviews and discussions also provided the opportunity to gather information on the benefits of fire management activities, such as pasture improvement and woody weed control. Additional economic information was collected from other available sources. It proved difficult to document fire-related costs for individual properties. In most cases, specific records were not kept and hazy memories were fading. Direct economic costs experienced by individual pastoral businesses due to the 2000–02 wildfires ranged from zero dollars (where properties remained unburnt and unaffected by the wildfires) to more than $420 000. For one property badly affected by numerous wildfires over the entire wildfire period, additional costs due to lost potential production and stock turn-off were estimated at more than $2 million. Two contrasting case studies of individual properties are presented where post-fire rainfall was identified as a significant factor associated with the impact of fires, especially in relation to subsequent grazing and stock management. In the first case, infrastructure was damaged but good post-fire rainfall contributed to a positive pasture response in burnt areas which minimised production losses, whereas fire and the absence of post-fire rainfall in the second continued to affect grazing management for the next three years. The research work also provided the opportunity for pastoralists to identify areas of potential research and activities for better fire management. 4.1.1 Recommendations • Improve communications between all stakeholders to encourage greater community participation in regional-scale planning and increase awareness of both positive and negative effects of fire. • Encourage all land managers to record fire information immediately after fires so that information is not lost. Desert Fire: fire and regional land management in the arid landscapes of Australia Desert Knowledge CRC 191 Ch 4: Pastoralists’ perspectives on costs of fires in central Australia, 2000–02 pp. 187–208 4.2 Introduction and aim Most wildfires receiving national media coverage and economic analysis are those occurring on the east coast of Australia in urban and regional areas. Wildfires in the extensive rangelands generally do not capture the public interest, as they rarely result in direct loss of life or livelihood. A descriptive summary of the period of extensive wildfires in central Australia during 2000–02 was recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology as part of their monthly significant-weather summaries (Appendix 1). According to the Australian Institute of Criminology (2004):

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